News from

School of Veterinary Medicine

Visit the School's Site
Reset All Filters
486 Results
For early amphibians, a new lifestyle meant a new spine
Paleontologist in a lab with a sign saying "Dinosaurs" and fossil specimens in the background

Aja Carter and colleagues found that amphibian vertebrae acquired modifications as their habitat shifted from water to land and back. (Pre-pandemic photo)

For early amphibians, a new lifestyle meant a new spine

Moving from water to land and back again corresponded with distinct changes in animals’ spinal morphology, according to a new study led by paleontologist Aja Carter.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Newly described horned dinosaur from New Mexico was the earliest of its kind
Illustration of a horned dinosaur in a jungle setting

A team from Penn and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History described Menefeeceratops sealeyi, a horned dinosaur found in New Mexico that predates its relative Triceratops. (Image: Sergey Kasovskiy)

Newly described horned dinosaur from New Mexico was the earliest of its kind

With a frilled head and beaked face, Menefeeceratops sealeyi lived 82 million years ago, predating its relative, Triceratops. Researchers including Peter Dodson, of the School of Veterinary Medicine, and Steven Jasinski, who recently earned his doctorate from the School of Arts & Sciences, describe the find.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Blocking viruses’ exit strategy
A fluorescent microscopic image of a cell labeled in orange with virus particles emerging from it labeled green.

Blocking viruses’ exit strategy

Tests of a new antiviral that aims to prevent the deadly Marburg virus from spreading in the body show promise, according to a study led by School of Veterinary Medicine researchers.

Katherine Unger Baillie

The origin of reproductive organs
Four images labeled embryonic day showing the development of the precursors to sexual organs

The origin of reproductive organs

A new study led by the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Kotaro Sasaki elucidates the early biological processes involved in the development of ovaries and testes.

Katherine Unger Baillie

A legacy of equine veterinary care
Older photo of equestrian on horse jumping over barrier that reads The Hampton Classic

Carlene Blunt, a longtime donor to Penn Vet who established the Csaba Vedlik Equine Scholarship in 1999, was named Horsewoman of the Year in 1972. (Image: Courtesy of Carlene Blunt)

A legacy of equine veterinary care

For more than two decades, the Csaba Vedlik Equine Scholarship has offered veterinary students an immersive summer experience.

Katherine Unger Baillie

The immune link between a leaky blood-brain barrier and schizophrenia
A microscopic image of a neuron labeled in fluorescent colorful markers

A genetic condition known as 22q.11.2 deletion syndrome is associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia. A Penn Vet-led team found that a leaky blood-brain barrier, allowing inappropriate immune involvement in the central nervous system, may contribute to this or perhaps other neuropsychiatric conditions. (Image: Courtesy of Jorge Iván Alvarez)

The immune link between a leaky blood-brain barrier and schizophrenia

Research from the School of Veterinary Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia points to the involvement of the immune system the brain as a contributor to mental disorders such as schizophrenia.

Katherine Unger Baillie

In Peru, a race to vaccinate dogs as two epidemics collide
Person kneeling on ground while their dog is vaccinated on a sidewalk in Peru, the medical workers are wearing PPE and working in a temporary plastic tent bubble to protect against COVID.

Vaccinators in Arequipa reported feeling safer within the booths compare to using only PPE. During a pandemic, reduced workforce meant hiring nonmedical personnel to perform vaccinations, so PPE protocols were harder to follow. (Image: Penn Medicine News)

In Peru, a race to vaccinate dogs as two epidemics collide

A team of workers in Peru, led by Penn Medicine’s Ricardo Castillo-Neyra, led a two-month rabies vaccination campaign.

Lauren Ingeno

Turning back the clock on a severe vision disorder
microscopic image of retinal tissue layers labeled in red and blue

A mutation in the NPHP5 gene leads to a severe blinding disorder, Leber congenital amaurosis. Dogs with the condition that were treated with a gene therapy regrew normal, functional cone cells, labeled in red, that had previously failed to develop. The treatment led to a recovery of retinal function and vision. (Image: Courtesy of Gustavo Aguirre and William Beltran)

Turning back the clock on a severe vision disorder

Gene therapy triggered the regrowth of healthy photoreceptor cells and restored vision in dogs with a severe form of Leber congenital amaurosis.

Katherine Unger Baillie